Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1. Top-down and bottom-up approaches
to greening
In the sections of the paper that follow, the
authors briefly report on their review of literature
to date concerning the roles of government and
organizations in greening; the state of greening in
organizations reporting best practices; and their
work in progress to develop a model for assessing
an organization's maturity level in greening. The
model, Greening through Information Technology
Management (GITM), is adapted from the Capa-
bility Maturity Model. The authors then propose a
tool (the GITM tool) to facilitate implementation
of the model.
GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN
SUSTAINABILITY AND GREENING
Research indicates that the European community
has been proactive and is a leader in greening
through its laws and regulations. In contrast, the
United States has been somewhat of a laggard,
being reactive and a follower (Kanter, 2009).
Some efforts are underway to marshal the forces
of U.S. government agencies and organizations
in working toward sustainability and greening.
For example, in November, 2008 the U.S. Small
Business Administration's Small Business In-
novation Research program held a conference,
bringing together scientists, manufacturers and
entrepreneurs with representatives of various
federal agencies to address topics such as next
generation energy innovation. It was reported that
the Federal government is providing monetary
and technical support to public-private partner-
ships that will drive technological innovation in
the future.
Huber, 2008). The authors of this paper purport
that through the management of Information
Technology (IT), organizations can facilitate
greening and, thus, move toward sustainability.
GREENING THROUGH
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
MANAGEMENT
In this research project, the authors have inves-
tigated programs of applying greening policies
to many aspects of organizational function, as it
pertains to IT management. These aspects include
assets, power, and personnel. All three aspects of
organizations are heavily impacted by information
technologies. For example, power is consumed
and generated by technology; organizations' as-
sets include multiple technologies which need to
be purchased/reused/retired; and personnel use
information technologies.
SUSTAINABILITY AND GREENING
IN ORGANIZATIONS
While governmental attempts at promoting sus-
tainability and greening are important, the execu-
tion of plans lies with organizations. Information
